


Light Touches

by petals42_tumblr (rosepetals42)



Series: Sterek Tumblr Fics [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 09:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7709020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosepetals42/pseuds/petals42_tumblr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the prompt: "Person A knowing that Person B does cute things only when A is asleep (plays with their hair, gives forehead kisses, tracing their lips, gentle snuggling, draws them, etc). One day Person A pretends to be asleep, but ends up being unable to hold back a smile as Person B begins displaying their rare affection"</p>
<p>Derek is Person A. Stiles is Person B.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light Touches

It’s not that Stiles is only affectionate when Derek’s asleep.

No, Derek has spent the last four months dealing with the fact that Stiles’ new favorite activity seems to be pushing him against walls and instigating _scorching_ kisses in public. Stiles likes demanding piggy back rides even when he’s not drunk, sliding his hand underneath Derek’s shirt and raking his fingers down his back whenever Derek is trying to have a serious conversation, and, god, Derek has gotten so used to having his ass grabbed or slapped that it’s honestly a surprise when he stands up without being groped.

Stiles is a passionate, veritable livewire of energy and if Derek didn’t love every single second of it, he could easily have Stiles arrested.

So, no, displays of affection are clearly not their issue.

But, well-

The first time it happens, he is pretty sure it’s a dream. He had promptly passed out after a round of mind-blowing sex that involved Stiles fucking _smirking_ from above him as he sank down and- well, Derek had assumed that Stiles would be asleep as well. That limitless energy of his had to run out _some_ time.

So, the sensation of someone gently running their hands through his hair, not tugging or even really stroking, but just idly grazing through – that must have been part of a dream. Stiles must be asleep and it isn't his style, anyway.

But then it happens again.

Stiles comes in late, presumably from the library as he had been researching some bird-dog-human hybrid (Tengu? Tengi?) that had shown up, but Derek doesn’t bother waking up fully to ask. He merely rolls closer to the wall so Stiles has room to get in bed and then starts to fall back into sleep. He doesn’t even bother opening his eyes as Stiles flops around and then settles himself on his side, facing Derek but not touching him. Not quite.

The soft feel of fingers against his shoulder wakes him up again. For a moment, they just rest there but then they slide down to his elbow and then back up and a part of Derek is already resigning himself to the fact that Stiles is about to wake him up for 2am night sex.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

There are worse ways to wake up.

But… Stiles never dips his hand lower than Derek’s elbow and the pressure never increases past “barely there” and Derek finds himself falling to sleep to the feel of Stiles’ soft, almost tentative exploration.

*^*^

Now that he knows to wake up for it, he realizes that it happens all the time.

When he nods off during American Werewolf in London (and honestly, he can’t be blamed, the joke was old after the first dozen viewings), he wakes to Stiles’ fingers gently twisting around the hair at the nape of his neck. The feel of Stiles’ lips gently on his forehead pulls him out of a daytime nap on the couch, though Stiles has moved away towards the kitchen by the time he manages to pry his eyes open. Stiles has sucked and bitten his ear before, but the feel of it being gently traced with two fingers before they reverently trace down his _neck_ is enough to wake him from sleep at four o’clock in the morning. And Derek didn’t even know that someone running their finger along your eyebrow was a _thing_ until Stiles does it for a full twenty minutes as if he is memorizing it.

When they are both awake, they still split their time almost evenly between arguing (sometimes _while_ tearing their clothes off) and engaging in more sexual activity than Derek previously thought possible (sometimes _without_ bothering to take their clothes off).  And when Stiles is asleep, he latches on to anything that touches him with a surprising amount of strength. So the few times Derek had tried to reciprocate Stiles’ feather light touches or idle kisses, he’d found his hand or his whole body trapped in a death grip for hours.

So, it only happens when Derek is asleep. And it’s as he purposefully stops wearing shirts to bed so that he can better feel the pictures that Stiles’ traces across his skin that he realizes he loves it.

*^*^*^

Derek doesn’t just love it, though. No, he’s obsessed with it.

So, he does what any mature, grown man would do when his boyfriend only touches him softly and carefully when he is asleep: He starts faking it.

Stiles isn’t a werewolf, won’t be able to hear the difference in heartbeat or smell the wafts of utter contentment that Derek is sure he emits whenever it happens so it seems like a valid solution.

He practices letting his blinks become longer and slower as they watch movies and perfects keeping his breaths even and steady and allows his mouth to fall open the slightest bit just to really sell it.

And, so suddenly, he is falling asleep all the time. He takes afternoon naps that happen to coincide with when Stiles normally comes over after school. He doesn’t even make it halfway through movies before he is conked out against Stiles’ shoulder. He runs to the bathroom to clean up first after they’ve finished so that he can be asleep by the time Stiles slides back into their bed. And he makes sure his head is always within Stiles’ reach and the sheets of their bed don’t cover his back and one night, Stiles carefully traces his fingers along Derek’s entire hand before planting a kiss in the middle of his palm, so Derek stops sleeping with them tucked under his pillow every night.

He thinks Stiles is catching on when, after three weeks of this, he frowns and asks Derek if he is feeling okay. At first, Derek tries to look innocent and assert that of course he is but that that comes out somehow suspiciously (at least, Stiles’ eyes narrow). So, Derek switches tactics. He grabs Stiles and presses him up against the wall and smirks and tells him that he can “go ahead and _prove_ how good he is feeling” and Stiles nods eagerly and Derek’s secret is safe for another day.

*^*^*^

Stiles has been working too much. He gets home late, quietly eats whatever food Derek has made, and then passes out almost immediately. After two week of this, he apologizes for the lack of sex and, okay, yes, Derek misses that a little, but really, what he _craves_ is all the soft, gentle touches and-

Derek is actually asleep when Stiles’ hands thread gently through his hair three nights later. But Stiles is petting him and he barely stops the huge sigh of relief that wants to fight its way out of his chest and, god, it’s _perfect._

He is trying to figure out if there is a way to roll closer while not alerting Stiles to the fact that he is awake when-

“Derek?” Stiles’ voice is one big question mark. Derek freezes. He’s asleep, he’s asleep, he’s asleep. Stiles doesn’t buy it. “Derek.”

He could totally be asleep.

“Derek, you’re smiling,” Stiles finally says. “I know you’re awake.”

“What?” Derek mumbled, trying to make his voice sound like he had just woke up. “Uh, I don’t know what- what’s happening?”

When he opens his eyes, though, Stiles has removed his hand and is looking down and away. He looks… Derek switches his eyes over to wolf form in an attempt to figure out what exactly is going on here.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, more seriously now that is it clear something _is_ wrong.

“Nothing,” Stiles says, jaw clenching. “I just- let’s not talk about it.”

“About what?”

“Dude,” Stiles groans. “You know what! I was just freaking… _petting_ you okay and now it’s weird ‘cause you caught me – not that I do it all the time – and just, could you not make fun of me?”

He says it all very fast and rushed and Derek’s frown only grows.

“Why would I make fun of you?” he asks, shaking his head as he sits up straighter.

“Because it’s weird!” Stiles says and he is blushing harder. “It’s weird and not- not  _us_ and you were already smirking about it so… _ugh_ just go for it.” His hands flail for another moment before he flops down and throws his forearm over his eyes. “I’m ready for judgment.”

Derek probably shouldn’t find his freak out and fucking _adorable_ as he does.

He is stuck smiling and thus unable to answer right away. After a moment, Stiles peeks out from under his arm and groans at the sight.

“Derek, just-”

“I like it,” Derek says, reaching up to drag Stiles’ arm away from his face. “That’s why I was smiling, dumbass.”

“You… you like it?”

“Yes,” Derek says, blushing just a little himself. This might be the first time that he and Stiles have ever _talked_ about what they like. “Of course, I like it. I’ve been pretending to fall asleep for weeks now!”

“You’ve known for _weeks_?!” Stiles sounds scandalized. “And I _knew_   you were sleeping too much. I was worried about you, you jerk!”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t so weird about showing affection-”

“I am not ‘weird’ about showing affection!” Stiles sputters. “We got thrown out of a movie theater just a few weeks ago!”

“That _is_ weird!” Derek protests and he sees Stiles’ mouth open to argue and as much as Derek enjoys winding him up, that’s not what he’s after right now. So he pulls Stiles back down and curls into him so that his head on Stiles’ chest and nuzzles in.

“Do it again,” he orders, tightening his hold on Stiles.

“I can’t do it _now_ ,” Stiles says. “You’re awake! You know now! It’s gone forever!”

“It’s not gone,” Derek says and for good measure, he reaches up and grabs Stiles’ hand, pulling it on his head. “Do it.”

“Ugh,” Stiles says, but his hand doesn’t leave Derek’s head and his fingers start to move as if by instinct. “You’re going to be demanding about this too, aren’t you?”

“Mhm,” Derek says and his eyes have fallen shut instinctively. And then he _melts_ when Stiles goes for the eyebrow again. It’s impossible to choose a favorite but this one has to be close.

“Your eyebrows make you look like a werewolf,” Stiles murmurs.

“Mhm,” Derek says. He would nod but he doesn’t want to move.

“It’s weird that they go away when you actually turn into a werewolf.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s the one thing I don’t like.”

“Okay.”

“You’re a weird werewolf,” Stiles mutters and it’s clear he’s falling asleep.

So Derek doesn’t bother responding.

End.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
